Indians Prospect Insider

If there is one area of the Cleveland Indians minor league system where they have a lot of depth and talent, it arguably is in the bullpen. They have relievers of all different types up and down the system, be it high impact potential prospects or just good middle relief depth options. Power righties or crafty lefties. You name it, they pretty much have all bases covered in the system when it comes...

With the Indians making their 40-man roster selections, the final listing of Rule 5 Draft eligibles is now known. Here is the final listing going into the draft which will be held on Thursday December 10th. This listing will be linked on the right side of the page in the "Indians Resource Center" for easy reference.
Pitchers:
Dixon, Kevin*
Edell, Ryan
Espino, Paolo
Flores,...

First off, this is just another reminder that Paul Cousineau and I will be airing a special offseason edition of Smoke Signals tonight from 9:30-10:30pm. We will be talking about the recent roster moves, coach additions to Manny Acta's staff, and more, and will also have Indians left-handed pitcher Chuck Lofgren on as our guest. If you have any questions you would like answered on the show, please...

As a quick FYI, Paul Cousineau and I will be airing a special offseason edition of Smoke Signals this Sunday night November 22nd from 9:30-10:30pm. We will be talking about the recent roster moves, coach additions to Manny Acta's staff, and more, and may have an interview or two.
On Friday afternoon the Indians added seven players to their 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft...

The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has purchased the contracts of the following seven players: INF/OF Jordan Brown, LHP Kelvin De La Cruz, INF Jason Donald, RHP Jeanmar Gomez, INF Wes Hodges, INF Carlos Rivero, and OF Nick Weglarz.
Brown, 25, spent the entire season in AAA Columbus where he was a mid-season and post-season all-star selection and hit an International League-best...

UPDATE 11/20 10:30am EST: I have received confirmation that right-handed pitcher Carlton Smith was not rostered. Again, not a big surprise as while Smith is talented and had a great year the Indians have a lot of depth in the bullpen in Akron and Columbus and can gamble on losing a reliever or two.
UPDATE 11/20 10:04am EST: Have received a lot of e-mails and seen a lot of talk on message...

The 2009 Arizona Fall League (AFL) season wrapped up on Wednesday night, and of the ten total players the Indians sent to the AFL the one player who really made a name for himself and stood out was right-handed reliever Josh Judy.
Yes, the versatile Matt McBride certainly had a great AFL campaign hitting .364 with a 1.152 OPS in 20 games, but he has always been one of the Indians better...

Today the Cleveland Indians and Manager Manny Acta announced that they have hired Sandy Alomar Jr. as their first base and catching coach.
Alomar, 43, spent eleven seasons catching with the Cleveland Indians from 1990-2000 where he was a six-time All-Star selection and last summer was the 33rd player to be inducted into the Indians Hall of Fame. During his tenure with the Indians, Alomar...

On Friday we took a deeper look at some of the players on the proverbial roster bubble and whether or not they may be removed from the roster before the November 20th roster deadline coming at the end of this week. Today, it's time to look at the many players in the organization who will be considered to be added to the roster and who is likely to be rostered.
For a complete listing of Cleveland...

Today the Cleveland Indians and manager Manny Acta have announced the hiring of Tim Tolman as Major League Bench Coach, Scott Radinsky as Major League Bullpen Coach, and Steve Smith as Major League Infield and Third Base Coach.
Tolman, 53, has recent ties to the Indians organization, serving as the club’s Minor League Field Coordinator over four seasons from 2003-06 before joining Acta...

It is time again for another Diamonds in Single A article. This week will focus on the last player of note from the Indians fire sale at the trade deadline this year, Jason Knapp. Knapp was the headliner in the Cliff Lee deal and as early as mid-season was in the honorable mention area for Baseball America

It is time once again for another update on how the players in the Indians system are performing in winter league action. All stats below are through games Friday November 13th.
Also, just because I am an Ohio State Buckeye homer, I just wanted to say congrats to the Buckeyes on the Rose Bowl bid. Can't believe it has been 13 years since we have gone, though three National Championship games...

It's time to unveil a new feature for the site today, and that is the IPI Inbox which will be a mailbag piece covering some topics that IPI readers have asked about in emails. Lots of other sites do this, and since I get a lot of e-mails asking various questions I felt it would be good to share a few of them from time to time. In the offseason this piece probably will only run once or twice a month...

The November 20th roster deadline is quickly approaching as it is now just a week away. This is a key date in the offseason in that it is the first official 40-man roster for the next season, and is also when teams add very valuable prospects from their farm system onto the roster in order to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft in December.
For the Indians, when it comes to filling out their...

Jordan Brown (25) of Tucson, Ariz., paced the International League with a .336 batting average. The Columbus Clippers outfielder ranked third in the circuit with a .532 slugging percentage and finished tied for fifth with 35 doubles. The Cleveland Indians selected Brown in the fourth round in 2005 out of the University of Arizona.
Andy Marte (26) of Villa Tapia, Dominican Republic, hit .327...

In the next few days I will be breaking down the 40-man roster and discussing who may still be removed and who will be added, but in the meantime here are a smorgasbord of news and notes regarding everything Indians related:
It appears that if right-hander Jake Westbrook continues to progress well with his throwing program he is currently doing out in Goodyear, Arizona that he will pitch...

The biggest news out of Peoria this week is the announcement that outfielder Nick Weglarz has been shut down for the remainder of the AFL after having surgery on a leg that he injured last summer. Wegz had a metal rod surgically implanted in his leg, which will work to stabilize the fracture and allow it to heal in a much shorter time period that if the surgery had not occurred. We're not sure exactly...

The Cleveland Indians short-season Single-A affiliate Mahoning Valley had a very good season in 2009, anchored by a starting pitching staff which had four regulars in the rotation with an ERA at or under 2.79 on the year.
The lone exception to the dominance that was the starting staff in Mahoning Valley was right-hander Preston Guilmet who finished the season 6-6 with a 4.09 in 15 starts,...

The New York Yankees won their 27th World Series Championship last Wednesday night, and in the process are taking a resounding beating by baseball fans and media everywhere about how they bought a championship after shelling out over $420 million this past offseason on the likes of C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Texeira.
The problem with that is while the fans and media are right in...

It's Sunday, and time for our weekly update on how the players in the Indians system are performing in winter league action. All stats are through Saturday November 7th.
One quick note to give congrats to Indians catcher Matt McBride who went 1-for-2 with a 2-run home run last night in the Arizona Fall League's Rising Stars game. McBride's home run came in the bottom of the 8th inning with...

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!